Super Sunday: India wins U-19 World Cup

Kuala Lumpur, Mar 2 (ANI): India under 19 cricket team continued their unbeaten run in the series as they beat South Africa by 12 runs to become world champions.

Indian bowlers first blew the South African top order away and then, after heavy rains had reduced the match to 25 overs, held their nerves to win their second Under-19 World Cup.

Chasing a revised target of 116 in 25 overs for victory, the Proteas could manage to score 103 for the loss of 8 wickets. Needing just 19 runs to win off the last over, S Kaul restricted SA to just seven runs.

After dismissing India for 159, South Africa batted like they were caught in the headlights, failing to get the ball off the square and losing three wickets in the first 8.4 overs before rain intervened. That meant they were left with a tall order of scoring 99 off 98 balls when play resumed.

Reeza Hendricks and Wayne Parnell batted better after the break, but despite two dropped chances and a missed stumping, they couldn’t hit too many boundaries on the damp outfield.

Hendricks and Parnell added 50 for the fifth wicket in 57 balls, but Hendricks fell at a crucial juncture for 35 off 43. South Africa, at that time, required 44 off five overs.

After Ajitesh Argal’s two wickets at the start of the innings, left-arm spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Iqbal Abdullah struck at regular intervals to peg South Africa back.

They conceded only 12 off their final overs, leaving Siddharth Kaul 19 runs to defend in the last over.

Bradley Barnes paddled the first ball past short fine-leg for four, but the next five deliveries yielded only two as South Africa lost by 12 runs.

Earlier, India were bowled out for a paltry 159 in 45.4 overs against South Africa in the final of the under-19 World Cup at the Kinrara Academy Oval.

Tanmay Srivastav was the top scorer for India with 46. For South Africa, Wayne Parnell, Matthew Arnold and Roy Adams picked up two wickets each.

South Africa captain Wayne Parnells decision to field seemed to strike the right cord as his bowlers provided the team with early breakthroughs.

After losing two early wickets in the form of Taruwar Kohli and Shreevats Goswami, Tanmay Srivastava held fort to bail the Indians out of trouble to some extent.

Captain Parnell drew first blood to put India on the backfoot as he claimed the in-form Taruwar Kohli.

Soon, Goswami perished to Arnold. India captain Virat Kohli tried to pull things back but a stunner of a catch by Engelbrecht sent the skipper back to the dressing room. (ANI)